Temple Police Department gears up for creepy clown Halloween calls

TEMPLE - Trick or treating and haunted houses will be in store for many Central Texans on Halloween night, but with the recent clown phenomenon still over running many parts of the country, local police are speaking out about it.

Temple Police say while they didn't receive any calls for clown sightings or threats over the weekend, they are expecting to get a few of those calls tonight. Officers say they've never seen a trend like the clown scares before and are asking everyone who goes out tonight to be alert, travel in groups and only visit well lit areas.

While there aren't currently any laws preventing someone from dressing up like a creepy clown and scaring people, Temple police say when it comes to clown sightings tonight it's important to know the difference between a harmless prank and a legitimate threat.

"In general the line that needs to be drawn is if there's unwanted contact because that can be considered an assault, or if a verbal threat is made that's when the police need to be contacted and need to be brought in to the situation" says Temple Police Officer Joe Thomas.

If you're hoping to avoid the clown craze all together temple officers are using their car trunks to create an alternative safe and family friendly event tonight at Temple Baptist Church.

"What we do is the kids just walk down the line of our trunks and we decorate them and we hand out candy, it's a safer environment for the kids to trick or treat" says Thomas.

That event started at 5:30 and will run through 7:30pm

The Temple Police Department says if you do decide to trick or treat it's important to carry a flashlight, walk in groups, be alert and to avoid accepting home made treats from strangers.

For a full list of safety tips visit the Temple Police Department's Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/TempleTXPolice/